Indigent Aid Protested At Health Agency Hearing

Residents protesting a new tax that will finance a countywide public health agency said on Friday they resent shelling out money to pay the medical bills of poor people.

``As far as I can determine, you`re reaching into my wallet for $125.68 for services that I will not be eligible for because I am not indigent,`` said Boca Raton resident Anela Angeletti, clutching her tax assessment.

Others at the meeting said that if taxes throughout the county continued to rise, middle-class property owners would themselves become indigents. Many cheered when speakers proposed putting indigents to work in non-paying capacities for the newly formed health district.

At the end of the meeting, which drew about 45 people, the board of the Palm Beach County Health Care District tentatively approved a $64.6 million budget and a tax rate of $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed value. A second and final hearing is scheduled for Sept. 21.

The district was formed last November after a majority of voters supported it. Previously, the public health system was a patchwork of private and tax- assisted hospitals, county-subsidized programs and state and local agencies.

County officials who pushed for voter acceptence of the district said it was needed to coordinate the disjointed health system, pay for a trauma network and provide services for the indigent.

Board members defended the district despite the crowd`s opposition.

They said the district will benefit middle-class people by helping them if they ever lost their money and got sick and by providing countywide vaccinations.

In addition, the planned trauma network, requiring a helicopter and specialized emergency rooms that offer highly advanced medical care, would provide services to all residents, board members said.

County Commissioner Carol Elmquist, who is the board`s chairman, said indigents whose medical bills are paid by the district will mainly be pregnant women, mothers supporting their children and the elderly.

Members of the audience on Friday urged the district board to be strict with money and to be wary of people claiming to be indigents when they could support themselves.

``There needs to be more investigation. Stop handing out things and charging the taxpayer,`` said Hazel Driskell.